Laughing Emoji On Grandfather's Death Post, Then A 20-Year-Old's Murder

A 20-year-old was stabbed to death during a physical altercation over a Facebook post in Gujarat's Rajkot. The victim, identified as Prince, was admitted to the hospital, where his condition deteriorated. He complained and registered a statement with the police from the hospital before dying of his injuries. The Gujarat police have arrested the key accused, while another remains at large.

Prince Kumar, 20, was a native of Bihar and worked at a factory in Gujarat along with three of his cousins. Remembering his grandfather, Roopnarayan Bhind, whom he lost four months ago, Prince uploaded a story on Facebook. Prince's acquaintance from Bihar, Bipin Kumar Rajinder Gond, reacted to the story with a laughing emoji, which birthed an argument between the two men.

What started as a verbal altercation over the phone turned physical earlier this month.

According to a First Information Report (FIR), on the night of September 12, around 12:30, Prince was sitting in an auto rickshaw outside the factory where he worked when he saw Bipin walking towards him. Prince turned to go back inside the factory, but another accused, Brijesh Gond, blocked his way and threatened to kill him. Meanwhile, Bipin stabbed Prince.

Hearing Prince's screams, his colleagues rushed to his aid and took him to a nearby private hospital and then to Rajkot Civil Hospital.

Prince suffered an inch-and-a-half to two-inch deep wound on the back, police said. However, he was conscious at the time of the hospital admission and gave a statement to the police.

The initial medical report did not classify his injury as serious. But after four days, his condition worsened, and he was moved to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Prince died on September 22, at 2:30 am. The Police were informed in the morning, at 6:35.

Police added section 103 (1), relating to murder under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, to the FIR. The main accused, Bipin, was arrested on Monday night and produced in court on Tuesday. The second accused, Brijesh, is on the run.

The police are awaiting the post-mortem report to determine the exact cause of death. The preliminary report suggests that both injuries and infection could be possible causes.